Volume 1, Chapter 167: Despair

After leaving home, Gu Chenxi walked for she knew not how long until her feet ached.

She had no idea where she should go.

That house suffocated and grieved her; she did not want to see her father, nor did she wish to seek out her brother.

Seeing other people boarding a public bus, she followed them up.

When she watched passengers take out their phones and scan the bright sensor at the front, she copied them by pulling out her phone to scan as well.

Just as she finished scanning and was about to find a seat, the driver suddenly called out to her, "Hey, young lady, your phone didn't scan through."

"Huh?"

"Scan it again."

"Oh..."

She took out her phone again and scanned. Seeing that she hadn't even opened the transit QR code and her screen wasn't even lit up, the driver was utterly speechless. "You can't do it like this. You need to use the transit code."

Gu Chenxi: "What is a transit code?"

Driver: "..."

In the end, an auntie sitting nearby helped her set up a transit code, only to discover that Gu Chenxi hadn't linked any cards, nor was there any money in her WeChat wallet.

The entire busload of passengers looked at Gu Chenxi with puzzled gazes. Given her clothes and the designer bag she carried, she didn't look like a poor person without a single penny.

"Don't you have any money?"

Gu Chenxi's eyes lit up. "I have money."

She reached into her cross-body bag and pulled out a thick stack of cash—money her brother had previously left in her drawer.

Looking at the driver with pure and innocent eyes, she asked, "Is this enough?"

Everyone: "..."

The bus stopped at its terminal. After walking a few steps, Gu Chenxi boarded another public bus.

Looking at the scenery drifting layer by layer past the window, for the first time, she felt a sense of freedom and freshness.

She hadn't slept well the night before, and now feeling a bit drowsy, she closed her eyes and dozed for a while.

When the driver called out to her, she had arrived in a completely unfamiliar place.

The surrounding architecture was entirely different from her neighborhood; everything was dilapidated everywhere, making her feel for a fleeting second as though she had transmigrated into a post-apocalyptic world.

"Rumble..."

Her stomach growled with hunger. She reached out to touch her belly, wanting to buy something to eat.

After walking a few steps, she spotted a noodle shop.

The owner outside the shop was smoking a cigarette while playing mahjong. Upon seeing an exquisite and pretty young girl, he immediately trotted over. "Looking to die?"

"Are you the boss?"

The owner's eyes swept up and down over Gu Chenxi, a bright gleam shining in his turbid eyes. "Yes."

"I want a bowl of noodles."

"Alright, alright, alright. Have a seat inside."

Gu Chenxi walked into the restaurant and obediently sat down on a chair to wait.

Before long, the owner brought out a bowl of noodles that smelled intensely fragrant.

"How much is it?"

"Fifteen yuan."

Gu Chenxi took a hundred-yuan bill from her bag and handed it to the owner.

The owner instantly spotted the cash inside her bag, his eyes flashing with greed.

Before Gu Chenxi had even taken two bites, she suddenly felt overwhelmingly dizzy and drowsy, collapsing onto the table.

"Hey, little beauty."

The owner called out to her a few times. Seeing that she was unresponsive, he immediately snatched her bag and emptied all the cash from inside.

"Thirty thousand yuan."

He carried Gu Chenxi into his private room, tied her up with a rope, and then took the money to resume his mahjong game.

His luck today was truly exceptional: he had acquired a stash of cash and a free beauty into the bargain.

Once the mahjong game ended, he would be able to enjoy the little beauty.

Meanwhile, back in Shangjing, Pei Jingmo mobilized all his connections to search for Gu Chenxi, while Fu Linhan and Bai Yinian were equally busy.

The Gu family's little princess running away from home was no trivial matter.

If she were a normal person, there wouldn't be quite so much cause for concern, but Gu Chenxi was different from ordinary people.

The last time she ran away, she went looking for Pei Jingmo and Song Qingyu, but this time she hadn't sought out anyone at all, simply vanishing like this.

Surveillance footage showed her boarding a bus, and based on the driver's account, she had alighted at the terminal.

The surveillance coverage in that area was somewhat sparse, making it impossible to trace where she went next.

Song Qingyu was also frantic with anxiety. Although she didn't know many people, she pleaded with everyone she could reach to help join the search.

Aunt Tang was weeping uncontrollably. Casting a reproachful gaze at Gu Chengde, she said, "Sir, the eldest young master is lying unconscious in the hospital, the second young master has been driven to this state, and now even Xiao Xi has run away from home. Is this what you wanted?"

Clutching the note Gu Chenxi had left behind, Gu Chengde's hands trembled as though he had aged a decade all at once.

"If Madam were still alive and saw you treating the three children this way, how heartbroken she would be."

"I... I only did it for their own good."

"And do you think they are doing well now?"

"It's useless to talk about this now. Let's find her first."

Pei Jingmo stormed in, glaring coldly at Gu Chengde with his fists clenched tightly. "You had better pray that Xiao Xi is safe. Otherwise, you will spend the rest of your life utterly alone."

—

Gu Chenxi was awakened by laughter from outside. Blinking her eyes open in a daze, she realized she was tied up.

That restaurant owner was a bad person!

"Alright, no more playing, no more playing."

"Hey, you win the money and then you quit?"

"Hmph, I've got good business tonight, I can't keep getting waylaid by mahjong."

It was the voice of the owner. Hearing the sounds of him approaching, Gu Chenxi struggled fearfully against the ropes.

Fortunately, the owner had assumed she was completely knocked out and hadn't tied her up intricately.

Gu Chenxi quickly wriggled free from the ropes and bolted out.

The owner was humming a tune while tidying himself up. Seeing someone dash out of the room, he froze for two seconds—

"Fuck!"

Spitting out the cigarette in his mouth, he immediately gave chase.

Night had fallen.

There were no streetlights along the road, plunging it into pitch darkness.

Weeping with terror, Gu Chenxi ran aimlessly.

She rarely ventured outside in ordinary times and did not care for exercise, let alone having gone without food all day; after running only a short distance, her legs refused to carry her any further.

The man behind her caught up. Seeing that she could no longer run, he emitted a lecherous chuckle, "Heh heh, run. Let's see how much farther you can run."

The man's voice sounded like a demon's whisper. Gu Chenxi desperately wanted to escape, but the ground beneath her feet was uneven. Not paying attention for a split second, she tumbled hard onto the ground.

Only then did she realize that the spot where she had fallen was right beside a garbage bin.

A foul stench wafted from the refuse container, and she nearly vomited from revulsion.

A sharp, stabbing pain shot through her ankle. Just as she tried to force herself to stand, her hair was grabbed in a vicious clutch by the man, who dealt her a ruthless slap. "Falling into my hands, and you still thought you could run."

Gu Chenxi had been cradled in the palms of her family's hands since childhood; when had she ever suffered such a beating? The blow left her dizzy and disoriented, her nose and mouth bleeding.

"Let me go—my family has a lot of money, I'll have my brother give it to you."

"Tsk tsk... so pretty when crying, baby. Brother doesn't want money, Brother only wants you."

"Rip—"

The owner ripped open Gu Chenxi's clothes. Trembling with fear, Gu Chenxi pressed her hands desperately against her collar.

Suddenly, her brother's self-defense lessons flashed through her mind. Ceasing her struggles, she lay obediently flat on the ground.

The owner paused for a moment before bursting into laughter. "That's a good girl. Struggling is useless, you might as well just enjoy it. Don't worry, Brother won't let it hurt!"

Taking advantage of his lowered guard, Gu Chenxi gritted her teeth and used all her remaining strength to drive her knee upward, slamming it into the man's most vulnerable spot.

"Ah—!"

Clutching his crotch, the owner let out a shrieking wail. Gu Chenxi shoved him away, and enduring the agonizing pain in her ankle, she scrambled up to run, only for her slender calf to be grabbed by a thick, dark hand.

With a vicious yank, Gu Chenxi crashed back down.

"Motherfucking little bitch, trying to cut off my lineage, let's see how I destroy you—"

He raised his hand to strike Gu Chenxi again, but before his hand could land on her face, the roar of a motorcycle suddenly echoed through the air, accompanied by the glaring beam of a high-beam headlight.

Gu Chenxi gazed through tear-blurred eyes at the motorcycle that had suddenly barreled over.

Because she was facing the glare, she couldn't see who the rider was, and could only pray inwardly that this person might save her.

Yet the next second, the owner of the motorcycle drove right past as if he had seen nothing at all.

Weeping, Gu Chenxi plunged into absolute despair.

The owner pinched Gu Chenxi's chin, taking in her expression of utter despair. "I just love watching the look of despair on you all. Since you hurt me so badly, you should suffer ten thousand times more than I do!"

He grabbed Gu Chenxi's head and smashed it mercilessly against the ground.

Gu Chenxi closed her eyes, bracing herself for the impact of pain.

Unexpectedly, the anticipated pain never arrived. Instead, she felt a wave of warm softness.

It felt as though a hand had been cushioned beneath her head. Snapping her eyes open, she saw a slender leg sweep through the air and kick the owner squarely in the head.